Used Car Maintainance

[wyteboi]

Hi. I just bought a used 03 6 cylinder grand am with 30,000 miles on it and I was wondering what are some of the things I should replace, change, ect. before i start driving around in it. Thanks in advance for all help

[pcprophet]

well basically with the amout of milage on the car, they arnt alot of maintence need, except for changing oil maybe air filter, check fluid level for brakes, steering, coolant and oil, you can check the brake pads to see how much they are worned down

basically, (what i would do) change oil-filter, air filter, run the gas tank to almost empty, add some injector cleaner then fill her up, check air pressure in all tires. check to see if lights are working. and check the serpetine belt for cracks. since the car has such low miles there inst really much else you can do. just drive her around, turn radio off and basically drive her around and see what she sounds like, she will tell you what condition shes in.

anyway good luck with your new grand am and welcome to the site.

[wyteboi]

Thanks alot for the help. ill do most if not all of the things you said

[Vhrus]

General rule of thumb, if you like fixing things buy an older car lol.

As for your car, drive and enjoy!
As said, checking fluid levels and tire pressure never hurts, but thats something you should do regularly regardless of age.

[alegar001]

pristein man like everyone said just check everthing out good and replace what worries ya. Also just follow your maintainance book. But enjoy, your car is in the prime of it's life.

Welcome to the community look forward to seeing you around.

Peace

[SpoCom2nr]

Yeah. I agree with the others. Just replace whatever is important to you or whatever you think is ready to be replaced.

As for extremely basic stuff some things I did were

1) Air Freshner
2) Floor mats
3) Cleaners (Detailing items for the inside and outside of the car)
4) Checked the fluids and added windshield washer fluid
5) Washed the car
6) I listen to it often; just bought mine recently... Somethings I do:
a) Listen to the car when I take turns.
b) Apply the brakes lightly and more
heavier sometimes and listen; Good for
adjusting the brakes if the material wore
down.
c) Drive at consitent speeds and listen.
Increase speed (both lightly and a little
heavy but not too much)
d) As well as other things.
7) Added brighter hi/low beam bulbs
8) Will be replacing air filter with a K&N or something that flows good.
9) Still need to run injector cleaner
10) As well as other things...

And do listen to your car like everyone said. Drive at different speeds if you can and listen. And always try your brakes out too. And take turns and listen as well... Just listen to the car and see how it feels and if anything seems out of the normal.

[bballr4567]

Word of caution, dont let the coolant go all the way to 100k miles. Change it sooner then that. Even though its rated at 100k miles its at the end of its life for sure.

[RocketFast321]

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=50885&highlight=john

[rixGAphx]

Originally posted by bballr4567
Word of caution, dont let the coolant go all the way to 100k miles... life for sure. Since no V6 GA's coolant system has ever made it past 50k miles without some MAJOR disaster and the resultant loss of all DexCool, this shouldn't really be an issue. :roll:
[/tongue-in-cheek]

DexCool and teh other extended-life antifreezes are actually labeled for 150,000 miles / 5 yrs.

[bballr4567]

HAHAHAHAH good one and oh so true!

[dandragonrage]

transmission fluid

[ChevelleSSLS6]

Doing a transmission service is EASY if you can find a lift and know where the little drain "fill to" hole on the side of the transmission is.

Cheap insurance as well, in my Jeep it has a drain plug on the bottom of the pan, I just did a service (filter+fluid) but for every other oil change I'll drain what comes out (about 4 quarts) and add some new to help keep the level of contamination (dirt, metal chunks, etc) down and increase service life.

[SpoCom2nr]

Check all the service intervals... Go from there... Maybe invest in a repair manual, if your the diy kind of person. Invest in some tools also...